Sheldon Silver as New York’s Ted Kennedy?

Dan Cantor, executive director of the labor-backed Working Families Party, makes the case in an email to supporters:

Sometimes the candidate who’ll fight for working families is a challenger, sometimes it’s an incumbent who’s been doing it for years. Think about Teddy Kennedy if you want the best example of such a person at the national level.

Time after time, on the crucial fights of the day – Silver has been the most important leader standing up to right-wing corporate power. He beat back Republican attempts to end rent regulation, slash public schools, and reduce access to healthcare coverage. He actually believes that the government has a role to play in making sure everyone has a decent shot in life. That’s not trivial.

Just last session, he led the way on legislation to create a paid family leave program, to expand affordable housing, to cut taxes on working families and raise taxes on millionaires, and to create a public campaign finance system that would finally end the dominance of big money in Albany.

Shelly Silver isn’t perfect – no politician is. But those bills could become law next year if the State Senate flips, and Shelly’s leadership is there to get it done. (more on why the WFP endorsed Silver)